1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, and, more particularly, to a method for selecting a receiver mode of a mobile terminal having two receivers and that is designed to receive a signal using either or both of the receivers depending on a channel environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, Wireless Broadband (‘WiBro’) refers to a broadband wireless Internet technology that can provide high-speed Internet services under stationary or mobile environments, almost anytime and anywhere. WiBro uses the 2.3 GHz frequency band with a cell radius of up to 1 Km to support mobility at more than 60 Km/H, guaranteeing seamless Internet connectivity. Further, WiBro supports high-speed data transmission, thus allowing Internet access at lower cost than is available on cellular networks.
In the recent years, a mobile terminal having two receivers (herein a Dual-receiver mobile terminal) has been proposed to provide broadband services under adverse channel conditions. The dual-receiver mobile terminal activates one of the two receivers under good channel conditions, and both receivers when it moves to a location with bad channel conditions, thus providing improved reception.
A conventional dual-receiver mobile terminal may operate in a single receiver mode where only one of the two receivers is activated or in a dual receiver mode where both the receivers are activated depending on periodically measured Carrier to Interference plus Noise Ratio (‘CINR’) and Received Signal Strength Indicator (‘RSSI’).
In other words, the conventional dual-receiver mobile terminal operates in a single receiver mode in a good wireless environment but switches from the single receiver mode to the dual receiver mode when the CINR or RSSI falls below a preset threshold.
However, the conventional dual-receiver mobile terminal suffers from frequent switching between the single- and dual-receiver modes when the CINR or RSSI varies around the threshold, thus increasing power consumption. That is, use of the dual-receiver mode when not needed results in increased power consumption.